Meet Aspen! Certified Therapy Dog.

Hello Everyone!

Here I am once again to give you an update on Aspen!  Things at Fair Haven have been pretty busy.  Aspen is in the office almost every day and she loves it! 

I did have one new family at the office, who was meeting Aspen for the first time, ask me a question.  She said, "Where does she sleep?" I gigled and responded, "usually with me." She looked confused and then stated that she thought Therapy Dogs lived in the centers they work.

I used that opportunity to educate on different therapy dog options with her and thought I would share the information with all of you.  Here we go! 

While there are some organizations that have Therapy Dogs living within their facility, that is not the case with Aspen.  Aspen is certified through Therapy Dogs International (TDI^®).  TDI is a volunteer organization dedicated to regulating, testing and registration of therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers for the purpose of visiting nursing homes, hospitals, other institutions andwherever else therapy dogs are needed.. TDI registers all breeds of dogs. Some dogs have pedigrees, while others have been adopted from local shelters or are rescue dogs. (or born on a farm in a barn, like Aspen)! 

I selectedTDI because it worked best for my work life and home life. When I am working, Aspen is working.  But, she goes where I go! 

When we are at work, she is on her game.  She is aware of her surrounds and waiting for her clients to arrive.  She excutes her techniques with little prompting and feels the emotional shifts within her space.  She is meant to do this job!

However, When we leave work, she is all dog!  She loves to go to our favorite coffee shop and get a "pup cup".  And, when she is off work and at home, she cuddles, plays with her dog friends, chases squirrels and eats us out of house and home.  Oh the life of a well loved dog.

It may seem trivial but, Aspen works with many people and her job is to sit in some deep & intense emotions.  She uses her light compression moves to ground clients and she is great at it!  But, just like us humans, if she works too much  or too long and doesn't release that absorbed emotion, she can get overwhelmed! 

So, we work very hard at scheduling her play time and down time to keep her balanced and happy!  I have attached some pictures below so you can see Aspen in full "dog" mode :) 

Because Aspen is our dog, we take care of all the food and basic necessitites. All donations received go to provide her with  ungoing- specialized training, recertification and some extra groooming when needed!  She has A LOT of fur!!  LOL!

Thank you for all your support with this program to provided these services to victims of sexual assault and trauma.  We could not provide this service without your support!